Description: This very large and beautifully hand coloured originalantiqueStereographic Northern Hemisphere mapwas engraved by John Neele in 1812 - the date is engraved at the foot of the maps- and was published by thefamousScottish publisher John Pinkerton in his largefolioModern Atlas, which was publishedbetween 1809-14.

Background: Theazimuthal equidistant projection is an azimuthal map projection. It has the useful properties that all points on the map are at proportionately correct distances from the center point, and that all points on the map are at the correct azimuth (direction) from the center point. A useful application for this type of projection is a polar projection which shows all meridians (lines of longitude) as straight, with distances from the pole represented correctly.While it may have been used byancient Egyptiansfor star maps in some holy books,the earliest text describing the azimuthal equidistant projection is an 11th-century work byal-Biruni. The projection appears in many Renaissance maps, andGerardus Mercatorused it for an inset of the north polar regions in sheet 13 and legend 6 of his well-known1569 map. In France and Russia this projection is named "Postel projection" afterGuillaume Postel, who used it for a map in 1581.Many modern star chartplanispheresuse the polar azimuthal equidistant projection. (Ref: Tooley; M&B)